diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 68000f027..06816406a 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -157,6 +157,16 @@ lazy val portalDockerSettings = Seq(
 
   // this is the default version, can be overridden
   bashScriptExtraDefines += s"""addJava "-Dvinyldns.base-version=${(version in ThisBuild).value}"""",
+
+  // wait for mysql
+  bashScriptExtraDefines += "(cd /opt/docker/ && ./wait-for-dependencies.sh && cd -)",
+  dockerCommands ++= Seq(
+    Cmd("USER", "root"), // switch to root so we can install netcat
+    ExecCmd("RUN", "apt-get", "update"),
+    ExecCmd("RUN", "apt-get", "install", "-y", "netcat-openbsd"),
+    Cmd("USER", "daemon") // switch back to the daemon user
+  ),
+
   credentials in Docker := Seq(Credentials(Path.userHome / ".ivy2" / ".dockerCredentials"))
 )
 
@@ -471,7 +481,6 @@ lazy val sonatypePublishStage = Seq[ReleaseStep](
 lazy val finalReleaseStage = Seq[ReleaseStep] (
   releaseStepCommand("project root"), // use version.sbt file from root
   commitReleaseVersion,
-  tagRelease,
   setNextVersion,
   commitNextVersion
 )
diff --git a/docker/.env b/docker/.env
index dee3149c6..11913bc9e 100644
--- a/docker/.env
+++ b/docker/.env
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ PORTAL_PORT=9001
 PLAY_HTTP_SECRET_KEY=change-this-for-prod
 VINYLDNS_BACKEND_URL=http://vinyldns-api:9000
 DYNAMODB_ENDPOINT=http://vinyldns-dynamodb:8000
+MYSQL_ENDPOINT=vinyldns-mysql:3306
 USER_TABLE_NAME=users
 USER_CHANGE_TABLE_NAME=userChange
 TEST_LOGIN=true
diff --git a/modules/portal/conf/reference.conf b/modules/portal/conf/reference.conf
index 00436a1bd..ef6e50cf9 100644
--- a/modules/portal/conf/reference.conf
+++ b/modules/portal/conf/reference.conf
@@ -53,9 +53,10 @@ portal.vinyldns.backend.url = ${?VINYLDNS_BACKEND_URL}
 portal.test_login = true
 portal.test_login = ${?TEST_LOGIN}
 
-
 mysql {
   class-name = "vinyldns.mysql.repository.MySqlDataStoreProvider"
+  endpoint = "localhost:19002"
+  endpoint = ${?MYSQL_ENDPOINT}
 
   settings {
     # JDBC Settings, these are all values in scalikejdbc-config, not our own
@@ -63,8 +64,8 @@ mysql {
     # assumes a docker or mysql instance running locally
     name = "vinyldns"
     driver = "org.mariadb.jdbc.Driver"
-    migration-url = "jdbc:mariadb://localhost:19002/?user=root&password=pass"
-    url = "jdbc:mariadb://localhost:19002/vinyldns?user=root&password=pass"
+    migration-url = "jdbc:mariadb://"${mysql.endpoint}"/?user=root&password=pass"
+    url = "jdbc:mariadb://"${mysql.endpoint}"/vinyldns?user=root&password=pass"
     user = "root"
     password = "pass"
   }
diff --git a/modules/portal/dist/wait-for-dependencies.sh b/modules/portal/dist/wait-for-dependencies.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..3786cb301
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/portal/dist/wait-for-dependencies.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# allow skipping with env var
+if [ "$SKIP_MYSQL_WAIT" -eq "1" ]; then
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+# the mysql address, default to a local docker setup
+MYSQL_ADDRESS=${MYSQL_ADDRESS:-vinyldns-mysql}
+MYSQL_PORT=${MYSQL_PORT:-3306}
+echo "Waiting for MYSQL to be ready on ${MYSQL_ADDRESS}:${MYSQL_PORT}"
+DATA=""
+RETRY=30
+while [ "$RETRY" -gt 0 ]
+do
+    DATA=$(nc -vzw1 "$MYSQL_ADDRESS" "$MYSQL_PORT")
+    if [ $? -eq 0 ]
+    then
+        break
+    else
+        echo "Retrying Again" >&2
+
+        let RETRY-=1
+        sleep .5
+
+        if [ "$RETRY" -eq 0 ]
+        then
+          echo "Exceeded retries waiting for MYSQL to be ready on ${MYSQL_ADDRESS}:${MYSQL_PORT}, failing"
+          return 1
+        fi
+    fi
+done